In general, I agree. As for the highlighted part - well, yes and no. He obviously was tired, but even if both Youzhny and Nadal are 100 % on hardcourt, Youzhny wins. Youzhny's problem is that he is very streaky, but when he is on, he is one of the best players on hardcourt. The part that bugs me about the "Nadal was tired" excuse is the implication most fans (not you!) put into it - namely that he would have won, had he been 100 %. The truth is, against Youzhny playing the way he did, Nadal still would have gotten comprehensively beaten. However, he certainly would not have won only 26 % of the points played. So yes, tiredness was a factor, but I believe its importance is greatly overstated by many Nadal fans. The scoreline would have been more competeitive, but the outcome would most likely have been the same anyway.

The bolded part is so true, that is what bothers me about excuses in general.

As for this match, Nadal won easily in the final in Rome after having a long match against Davydenko in the semifinal. Besides, Nadal won easily against Youzhny in Paris when Youzhny had an exhausting match against Haas the previous day. I don't recall Nadal fans saying on that occassion "oh, a piece of good luck for Rafa, Youzhny is normally a bad matchup for him"

__________________Salvor Hardin: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"

The bolded part is so true, that is what bothers me about excuses in general.

As for this match, Nadal won easily in the final in Rome after having a long match against Davydenko in the semifinal. Besides, Nadal won easily against Youzhny in Paris when Youzhny had an exhausting match against Haas the previous day. I don't recall Nadal fans saying on that occassion "oh, a piece of good luck for Rafa, Youzhny is normally a bad matchup for him"

Generally, a fair assessment. But in this particular match nearly everyone who said Rafa was tired also qualified that statement by saying that he would have lost anyway.

Generally, a fair assessment. But in this particular match nearly everyone who said Rafa was tired also qualified that statement by saying that he would have lost anyway.

Very true. Most folks who have said if Rafa were tired would have been unlikely to have won even if he was fresh. Misha played into good form at the tournament- and when Youzhny is playing well in hard courts- I think most Nadal fans realize that he is likely to win. If both were playing well and without fatigue- it may have been more like their 2007 match in Dubai.

Very true. Most folks who have said if Rafa were tired would have been unlikely to have won even if he was fresh. Misha played into good form at the tournament- and when Youzhny is playing well in hard courts- I think most Nadal fans realize that he is likely to win. If both were playing well and without fatigue- it may have been more like their 2007 match in Dubai.

Absolutely true. Youzhny was playing his best tennis EVER, and as such he deserves all the credits for winning this match. The only reason I (in hindsight, I know ) didn't expect this to happen is that I only saw his first match in Chennai, and it didn't impress me much - but apparently he raised his level to his utmost best during the tournament.

BTW, it must be said that most (if not all) Rafa fans acknowledged that Misha's victory was well deserved. As did Rafa himself.

The bolded part is so true, that is what bothers me about excuses in general.

As for this match, Nadal won easily in the final in Rome after having a long match against Davydenko in the semifinal. Besides, Nadal won easily against Youzhny in Paris when Youzhny had an exhausting match against Haas the previous day. I don't recall Nadal fans saying on that occassion "oh, a piece of good luck for Rafa, Youzhny is normally a bad matchup for him"

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmurray

Generally, a fair assessment. But in this particular match nearly everyone who said Rafa was tired also qualified that statement by saying that he would have lost anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clara Bow

Very true. Most folks who have said if Rafa were tired would have been unlikely to have won even if he was fresh. Misha played into good form at the tournament- and when Youzhny is playing well in hard courts- I think most Nadal fans realize that he is likely to win. If both were playing well and without fatigue- it may have been more like their 2007 match in Dubai.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClayBuzza

Absolutely true. Youzhny was playing his best tennis EVER, and as such he deserves all the credits for winning this match. The only reason I (in hindsight, I know ) didn't expect this to happen is that I only saw his first match in Chennai, and it didn't impress me much - but apparently he raised his level to his utmost best during the tournament.

BTW, it must be said that most (if not all) Rafa fans acknowledged that Misha's victory was well deserved. As did Rafa himself.

Yeah, what they said. We Nadal fans are so misunderstood

From the Rafa/Youzhny Paris thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClayBuzza

Is this becoming a new trend here on MTF, posting before the match is over?

Anyway, well-deserved CONGRATS to Rafa. He was playing amazingly well today, a lot of exquisite shotmaking.

Kudos Youzhny - he obviously wasn't at his best, presumably still tired from the match against Haas I guess.

Just one negative remark from me: that annoying, noisy crowd! - when will people finally understand that yelling while a player is about to serve isn't actually helping that player?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmurray

That was...unexpected. Misha looked really tired.

And what's the deal with Raf channeling Andre Agassi? Moving Misha side to side?

And now its up to Reeshard and Muzz. Yikes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogiRafaFan86

That was so good! Still some mishits that were abnormal, but he more than made up for those with some amazing shots. I know Youzhny was tired, but he could have been fresh as a daisy and he still wasn't going to be able to return those things.

Well done Rafa! Now beat Baggy!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Castafiore

The brilliant thing about Dubai back in 2006 was that quite a few people in here were moaning about the surface playing so slow, like clay. On the Talk Tennis message board, I even saw a poster seriously claim that the Dubai surface had a bit of sand from the desert on the sourt so it played like clay.

At the same time, pros like Andre Agassi and Safin were saying how fast that surface was.

Anyway, it was clear from the start that Youzhny was a bit sluggish but it was good to see Rafa hit some great shots, although his forehand down the line could use some work at the moment, as well as his serve (which improved as the match went along).

That will be the last victory of Rafa for quite some time.. With his joke mentality and pathetic game, I hope the disgusting player loses every single match next season. He's disgraceful. He should just retire. He's a joke.